TITLE: The Secretary
AUTHOR: Renee Knight
PUBLISHER: Harper
PUB. YEAR: 2019
SETTING: UK
FORMAT: - ARC (288pp)
FORMAT: - ARC (288pp)
RATING - 4/5
Christina Butcher is the personal assistant and "the Secretary" to Mina Appleton, a woman who controls a large supermarket chain. Christina's family was struggling financially, and she felt that this job would help her husband and daughter longterm. She was offered a significant salary and she's grateful for the opportunity to work for Mina.
Mina more or less inherits her position from her father, a man who was well respected by all his customers and the other business associates he dealt with over the years. Mina, promises to follow in her father's footsteps, but she is nothing like him. In fact Mina comes across as a power hungry, pathological liar and someone who will stop at nothing when it comes to retaining power, control and making money and, that means expecting Christina to carry out her orders. Soon, however, Mina just may get what she well deserves or will she?
Part psychological thriller, part courtroom drama, this story was quite a surprise - much darker than I was expecting. I liked the Christina character to a certain degree, even though she sacrifices everything. She knows all of Mina's secrets, indiscretions and all about her unethical business practices. Christina's a quiet observer with a good memory as well. She quietly went about her business. I didn't care for the Mina character but, she was, for the most part, a believable character.
Although this story was slow at times, the ending was very unexpected and helped me to bump up my overall rating a bit. I felt that there is plenty to discuss for bookclubs here.
Diane, thanks for sharing your honest thoughts about this book. It sounds kind of interesting.
ReplyDeleteSounds good, I like surprise endings!
ReplyDeleteI think I would be impatient with the slow parts.
ReplyDeleteThriller and court room drama sounds like a good combination.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds good but with the slow parts I might do better with it on audio. You've got me curious about the ending!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely sounds like a good reading group book. I am intrigued.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed her previous book, Disclaimer, and was wondering about this one. I'm curious about the ending!
ReplyDeleteI like fast paced so think I'll skip this one.
ReplyDeleteI like dark stories with unlikable characters.
ReplyDeleteI love unexpected endings. Despite being slow at times, this sounds like something I would really enjoy.
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